Gordon House Beckenham
Gordon House is a specialist provider of residential treatment for addicted gamblers. The Gordon House Association believes that a severe addiction to gambling, although having some parallels to a substance-based addiction, needs an inherently different approach to treatment. This is not so much due to differences in the various addictions themselves but due to the associated behaviours.Living the life of an addicted gambler means most of the waking day is centred on the avoidance of creditors and wheeling and dealing to manipulate others to create the space to gamble in and the cash to do it with. Unlike those dependent on a substance-based addiction, such as drugs or alcohol, there are no limits to which the gambling addict is able to subject themselves or others. An alcoholic's body will eventually stop the ingestion of alcohol and there will be physical signs to indicate their state; they will stagger, fall down, slur their speech, smell of alcohol etc. Others will be able to recognise the addict's problem without the assistance of that addict. However a gambling addict can carry on indefinitely with no outward signs that they are addicted; it is a hidden addiction, others may never know that an addict even has a problem let alone what the problem is. Therefore the addiction can continue and develop to an extreme state without being detected.
An addicted gambler's life is not based on reality but on avoiding reality. Therefore those who started gambling heavily at an early age sometimes lack some key social and survival skills; they may never have cooked or cleaned; they may never have had a significant relationship or taken the time to fully mature. Once they no longer have their gambling activities to concentrate on, and hide behind, we find that commonly faced for the first time with the actual reality of their situation and the issues they need to address, clients can experience severe anxiety and panic attacks. Some cannot deal with this reality on their own, seeing the route to recovery too daunting and seemingly impossible. Being with others who have 'been there', but have moved through the stabilisation process, is of particular value at this stage to a new resident who is struggling to come to terms with their situation. However we frequently find ourselves working with clients 'rejecting' treatment, or those working with them, in a misguided attempt to protect themselves from reality by finding an excuse to hide again within their gambling behaviours.
Ray and Ian persuading the group to speak up about
the dangers of discourteous cyclists and the negative
effects of Inheritance Tax.
Really enjoyed the session. I got a lot from it and would
like to say thank you.
Ray
Thank you Vince, good fun, easy going and really
informative.
Ian
Enjoyable and instructive, a good use of time and its
proof that I do have some confidence after all.
Ted
Thank you, I enjoyed it. With the video I am now more aware
of my outer self.
Mat
Good fun and most enjoyable. It took me back to my school
days when I really enjoyed role play.
Des